A real estate council disciplinary hearing is scheduled to get underway Wednesday into the conduct of a prominent West Vancouver real estate agent involved in the sale of a $2.7-million home on Kings Avenue in the fall of 2014.
The real estate council – charged with regulating professional conduct of Realtors – ordered the hearing after receiving a complaint about how real estate agent Shahin Behroyan of Re/Max Masters Realty handled the sale of the Dundarave property in November of 2014.
In the complaint to the council, the seller of the property alleged Behroyan breached professional ethics by demanding a $75,000 bonus be paid – on top of approximately $72,000 in commission – before he would present a full-price offer on the home.
Behroyan allegedly told the seller’s son, who was representing her in the deal, that the bonus was required to secure an offer on the property, which was deceptive, according to the real estate council’s summary of the complaint.
While the sale contract stated the sellers had been advised to seek independent legal advice, nobody had actually done that, according to the description of the allegations to be weighed at the hearing.
Behroyan also allegedly failed to disclose to the sellers that he had also signed an agreement to represent the West Vancouver couple offering to buy the house, according to the description of the allegations to be examined.
Behroyan also allegedly didn’t tell the sellers he would receive half of the buyers’ agent’s commission, contrary to council rules, according to the complaint description.
None of the allegations have been proven and Behroyan has denied any wrongdoing in the deal.
“There is no merit whatsoever to the allegations against me and I look forward to the upcoming hearing where the facts will completely vindicate me,” Behroyan said in an emailed statement.
“The sellers had offered to pay me $75,000 if I was successful in selling the property at full price and as the hearing will prove out, they only made these allegations when it was time to pay my commission, which they still have not done,” he wrote.
The disciplinary hearing is expected to last three days.
Actions of both Behroyan and his brokerage, Re/Max Masters Realty, during the Kings Avenue deal are also the focus of a civil lawsuit launched by the seller Mahin Hosseinalizadeh-Khorassani in B.C. Supreme Court. That case is currently scheduled for trial next month.
According to a statement of claim filed in that case in 2015, the seller signed a listing agreement with Behroyan that provided for seven per cent commission on the first $100,000 of the sale price and 2.5 per cent on the remainder. The listing price of the home was just under $2.7 million.
According to the statement of claim, Behroyan allegedly knew through another real estate agent in his office who he was working with that a West Vancouver couple were ready and willing to offer the listing price for the property.
But instead of presenting the offer and contrary to the interests of the sellers, Behroyan allegedly “took steps to further (his) own interests” by requiring that a $75,000 bonus be paid, according to the statement of claim.
The lawsuit also names the brokerage for “abdication of professional responsibility” in failing to supervise Behroyan.
In written responses to the claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, both Behroyan and Re-Max Masters Realty have denied any wrongdoing.
While acknowledging in court documents that he negotiated a $75,000 bonus, Behroyan has denied that a presentation of the offer was contingent on that, stating that discussion of a bonus started before the West Vancouver couple made an offer.
The bonus was offered, and agreed to, for “hard work, exceptional performance and obtaining a full-price offer,” according to Behroyan’s response to the claim.
Behroyan added neither the seller nor her son complained about the bonus until their conveyancing lawyer raised it as an issue.
In its response to the claim, lawyers for Re/max Masters Realty wrote that the company had fulfilled all of its responsibilities as a listing brokerage. The $75,000 bonus is being held in a trust pending the outcome of the case, according to the response.
The deal also spurred a second civil lawsuit when Behroyan sued another North Shore realtor, Reza Mousavy, for defamation after Mousavy allegedly wrote critical comments about Behroyan on social media.
Behroyan filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year alleging that Mousavy – who had previously listed the Kings Avenue house – had launched a Facebook smear campaign against him because he was “jealous of (Behroyan’s) success.”
According to the statement of claim, Mousavy published three online posts, in which he accused the real estate board of trying to “silence a whistleblower, me Reza Mousavy, for exposing … Shahin Behroyan…”
Behroyan’s lawsuit seeks damages, saying Mousavy created the public posts to “disparage (Behroyan) in the minds of right thinking people,” imply that he is “corrupt” or “unethical” and cause “embarrassment, financial loss and regulatory investigation.”
In a statement of defence, Mousavy denied that he publicly disseminated the posts, adding even if he did, “the words are true in substance” and “fair comment on a matter of public interest, specifically the licensing, regulation and discipline of real estate agents in the province of British Columbia.” None of the allegations made in the defamation case have been proven.
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